As Great Pine Mountain loomed closer, Yun Shuyue’s mood grew heavier. These past days, Jiang Chengyuan seemed to have forgotten her warnings entirely—he hadn’t mentioned a single word about it again.
Leaning against the carriage wall, Yun Shuyue sighed, opening her lazy eyes and sitting upright. She glanced at Jiang Chengyuan, who was bent over a route map, and asked hesitantly: “My lord, have you decided to pass through Great Pine Mountain?”
Jiang Chengyuan countered: “What does Madam think is best?”
Yun Shuyue replied directly: “Why not detour through Tiger’s Mouth? Though the mountain path is rough and longer, as long as we reach Rong County safely, it’s worth it.”
With danger drawing nearer, she dared not keep up appearances, hoping he would “figure it out” himself. She spoke her mind plainly.
Jiang Chengyuan raised a brow: “The road through Tiger’s Mouth runs between cliffs. Madam is not afraid?”
Afraid, yes—but better that than a bloody clash with bandits.
Yun Shuyue forced a smile: “With my lord here, I fear nothing.”
If not for the “lying through her teeth” skill she had honed in her past life, she might have bitten her tongue.
Jiang Chengyuan studied her, then actually smiled. Of course, he could see she was trying to divert his attention.
Her repeated mentions of Great Pine Mountain intrigued him. How could a sheltered young lady, rarely leaving home, know so much about the terrain around Rong County?
In truth, he had already investigated months earlier. He knew every treacherous stretch of the road, every potential danger. The bandits of Great Pine Mountain were no secret to him.
Strictly speaking, Rong County’s disaster hadn’t begun only last year. Two years earlier, drought had already halved the harvest. Then last year, only two small rains fell. The blazing summer sun scorched the barren land. In the east of the county, a small river dried up completely within two years, leaving only cracked earth. Survival grew desperate, and outlaws multiplied.
At last, they reached the fork between Great Pine Mountain and Tiger’s Mouth. Jiang Chengyuan ordered the convoy to halt. First, he lined up dozens of carriages along the roadside. Then he had the soldiers redistribute the grain from two wagons to the others. The emptied wagons were filled with brushwood and covered with tarpaulins.
Yun Shuyue watched the bustle in confusion, suspicion rising in her heart.
When she saw eight wagons loaded with money and grain heading grandly toward Tiger’s Mouth, she was just about to breathe a sigh of relief—until Jiang Chengyuan commanded: “Ready the carriages. We go toward Great Pine Mountain.”
What? Toward Great Pine Mountain?
Only then did Yun Shuyue grasp the seriousness of the situation. She had thought the three hundred soldiers sent ahead were the vanguard, with the remaining two hundred guarding the rear.
Unable to hold back, she grabbed his arm as he climbed into the carriage:
“Great Pine Mountain is full of danger. Why must my lord risk himself?”
Jiang Chengyuan, unusually patient, replied: “Rest assured, Madam. With me here, nothing will happen to you.”
His maneuver was, of course, a ruse. The roads in this region were complex; splitting the convoy was meant to confuse the enemy. If bandits appeared, he could probe their strength. Once the disaster relief in Rong County was complete, restoring peace to the people would be his next task.
Yun Shuyue rolled her eyes with a sigh. She couldn’t understand why he was so stubborn. Yet her worry wasn’t only for him. In the original story, he had been gravely injured but survived. By contrast, she feared for herself. The plot was straying further from its course—she knew the fates of the main characters, but not her own.
That helplessness gnawed at her. Knowing danger lay ahead, yet being forced to follow him forward—it was like seeing a pit before you and still having to jump in. How could anyone feel at ease?
Sure enough, less than an hour into the mountain road, three carriages were forced to a halt. Bandits wielding broadswords swarmed from all directions, surrounding the wagons and soldiers.
Yun Shuyue shot Chengyuan a sideways glance: “Well, my lord, now we’re stuck. I fear we won’t be going anywhere!”
Though her tone carried a hint of schadenfreude, inside, she was terrified. Through the slit in the curtain, she had glimpsed the bandits—numerous, vicious‑looking faces everywhere.
Jiang Chengyuan heard the annoyance in her voice and saw the fear in her eyes. From the moment they were stopped, he had shown no intention of negotiating, which surprised Yun Shuyue.
The leader of the bandits, a scar‑faced man, pointed his blade at the loaded wagons: “This mountain is mine, this road I laid. If you want to pass, leave a toll!”
He slung the broadsword over his shoulder.
The deputy general of the soldiers snorted: “Fools. You dare rob the government’s supplies?”
The bandits roared with laughter: “Government supplies are exactly what we should rob! The court ignores the people’s suffering. Rong County is like hell itself. Disaster relief is just a pretense—your silver ends up in the pockets of corrupt officials!”
At the deputy general’s signal, a hundred soldiers surged forward. These were the capital’s city guards, well‑trained, and within moments, they had the upper hand.
Seeing the tide turn, the bandit chief shouted and retreated toward the cliffside.
Yun Shuyue’s palms grew slick with sweat. A streak of blood on the carriage curtain made her heart pound. Jiang Chengyuan patted her hand reassuringly: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Before she could recover, he was gone. Instinctively, she lifted the curtain.
A dark figure—swift as a blade—charged straight at the scar‑faced chief. The man was nearly at the cliff’s edge when Jiang Chengyuan intercepted him. In their clash, it was clear the bandit was no match; he faltered quickly.
*Capture the king, and the thieves will scatter.* Once the scar‑face was taken down, the rest would crumble.
But just as Yun Shuyue exhaled in relief, her peripheral vision caught another figure. Turning, she saw a man with a longbow, arrow drawn, aimed directly at Jiang Chengyuan.
Her mind buzzed—she remembered the original story, where Jiang Chengyuan was gravely wounded.
The situation was too sudden. Without thinking, Jiang Shuyue leaped from the carriage and ran straight toward him.
Just as Jiang Chengyuan was about to subdue the scar‑faced bandit, he hadn’t expected Yun Shuyue to rush down. She cried out: “My lord, watch out—there’s a hidden arrow!”
Following her pointing hand, he saw it: a sharp arrow flying toward him. Jiang Chengyuan spun aside and dodged, but the move gave the scar‑face a chance to escape.
Yun Shuyue exhaled in relief—just a little more and he would have been struck. Yet when the scar‑face seized her, regret flickered in her heart. *His life or death has nothing to do with me. If he’s injured, that’s his problem. Why did I meddle?*
Dragged to the cliffside, she found herself taken hostage. Around them, thirty or forty archers raised their bows, all aimed at the convoy. Soldiers clustered around the wagons, but without their lord’s command, none dared act—after all, the Prime Minister’s wife was in the bandits’ hands.
With leverage, the scar‑face grew bolder: “Impressive skills, my lord. This girl must be your beloved. Seeing how she risked her life for you, surely you won’t abandon her?”
Jiang Chengyuan’s gaze never left the short blade glinting at Yun Shuyue’s throat. Inside, his emotions churned, though his face betrayed nothing. “What do you want?”
The bandit sneered: “Leave the grain and silver, and I’ll let you two fly free together.”
Jiang Chengyuan’s eyes turned icy: “Impossible. These supplies are bound for Rong County’s relief. I will not allow scoundrels like you to seize them.”
The scar‑face hadn’t expected such ruthlessness. He scoffed: “Girl, you’ve chosen poorly. You risked your life to save him, yet he abandons you without a thought. Tsk, tsk, what a waste of your devotion.”
*Does he think I don’t know what’s in those wagons? A few carts of brushwood in exchange for my life—and he refuses?*
Hearing Jiang Chengyuan’s words, Yun Shuyue nearly cursed his ancestors eight generations back. But her legs were weak, barely keeping her upright. All the insults she wanted to hurl stuck in her throat, unsaid.